ZURICH PREMIERSHIP leaders Bath snatched a bonus point at the death but could so easily have been left with nothing from their trip to Millmoor.

ZURICH PREMIERSHIP leaders Bath snatched a bonus point at the death but could so easily have been left with nothing from their trip to Millmoor.

Rotherham, the whipping boys of the Zurich Premiership, capitalised on Bath's errors to score two tries - and little except the 34-12 scoreline suggested these teams were at opposite ends of the table, such was the home side's tenacity.

In the end though Bath shrugged off the challenge from the Yorkshireman to score late tries from centre Alex Crockett and full-back Wylie Human.

The bonus point stretched their lead over second-placed Wasps to 10 points and, more importantly, opened up such a gulf from the chasing pack that Heineken Cup qualification is now a foregone conclusion.

Northampton produced a courageous performance to keep themselves firmly in the play-off picture as Paul Grayson masterminded their 36-15 victory over London Irish.

Hunter was carried off with his neck in a brace after being hurt when he scored Northampton's opening try.

Phillips had limped away 20 minutes earlier, yet Saints displayed admirable character to recover from such a serious double setback.

Grayson inspired them - while tries by Hunter, wing Bruce Reihana and scrum-half Mark Robinson took Saints to third in the table and inflicted a second successive home league defeat on Irish.

A try from prop Ceri Jones in the ninth minute of stoppage time earned Harlequins an unlikely 29-25 victory in a pulsating clash at Kingston Park.

Dave Walder looked to have snatched a win for Newcastle when he took a leaf out of Jonny Wilkinson's book to edge his side 25-22 ahead with a drop goal five minutes into added time.

But the Londoners gained possession from the restart and recycled the ball before driving Jones over for their fourth try of the match, which earned them a bonus point and put daylight between the two teams in the fight for a play-off spot.

The match marked a disappointing start to the new year for the Falcons.